Gino's Big Adventure

Well this past week was an adventure for our family to say the least. Monday night little Gino started throwing up bright yellow stuff so I put a call into the doc. Sure enough they suggested we head to the ER. After some tests and checking him out in the ER they sent us home and had us watch for dehydration among other things. We kept an eye on him and it was more of the same until the next afternoon. I was told to see my pediatrician the next day. Around 2ish we headed there (earliest appt they had). Well, we were there for the next 3+ hours, waiting and deciding next steps as our little guy was still throwing up. All the symptoms weren't adding up, so we headed back to the ER for an ultrasound. They currently thought it was something in his stomach causing him to throw up. The ultrasound and CT scans didn't show anything obvious so the Pediatrician called Oakland Childrens Hospital and Sutter in Sacramento to see if they had a room to take us. When Oakland heard the symptoms they called for an emergency helicopter from Lodi to the Oakland Children's Hospital. We had both sets of our parents with us while we waited around. It was a LONG evening, and such a terrible feeling not knowing if your little 3 week old baby was going to be okay. He was such a good sport, didn't seem like he was in much pain...he is a pretty calm baby in general. One of the hardest things to watch was them putting in the IV. They had SO much trouble putting it in his little hands. He was screaming for what seemed like an eternity. We all had to leave the room. They tried infrared, among other things and finally got it in before the flight. As the pilot/nurses arrived for the flight, who would have guessed but I knew the pilot. Nick Highfill, my brothers childhood friend, was the pilot. At first I thought - is this safe how can Nick be a pilot!???!! Then I realized it was a bit more comforting. He had young children of his own and did his best to make me feel safe and that everything would be all right. I had never been on a helicopter and sure as hell didn't think my first time would be like this. It feels like you are floating and going VERY slow. I finally asked him how fast we were going and he said 125 +, and we were there in 35 minutes. I tried so hard to be strong but when I hugged my mom and mother in law, I broke down as well as looking at Mike as I took off...it was a little much for me! But other than that Mike and I tried to be strong in this scary situation. The moment we landed in Oakland, I felt better. A team of doctors rushed in when we got there and started checking him out. They thought they were going to have to do emergency surgery right away because they thought his intestines were twisted up. That was not the case, but you instantly felt like whatever it was....they were going to figure it out and fix your baby. We just waited by as they took test after test! Finally they discovered it was a hernia or small hole in his stomach lining and his intestine was getting stuck in the hole and backing everything up. After all of the testing and deciding we didn't need to do immediate surgery we headed home at 5am that morning to gather up some things. At this point we hadn't slept in almost 72 hours. We came home from Oakland, left Gino there, and slept 3 hours before gathering our things and heading back. When I called in to check on him they said " We don't have a Gino here" " I said "what do you mean???" This was a bit alarming but after a few moments on hold I was given an update on my baby. Come to find out when we got there the social worker asked Mike if there was a reason we need him to have an alias. We were puzzled, no we are not famous or hiding from anyone....he can just go by Gino Ray Coldani!! Somehow they had him listed as Borax, Sixty One....on everything!!!! So his nickname has changed from little stinker, which clearly he still is, to Borax!! It was so funny to see Borax written on everything; I guess since it was a transfer from ER to ER they just gave him an alias. Gino spent the next 3 days in the NICU. You knew it was a delicate place in the NICU, you had to scrub in and wash your hands/arms before entering, they even had to check Gino to make sure he wasn't bringing any germs into the area where the other babies were staying. He was the only full term baby in there, the other babies were so small and fighting for their lives, it was so sad.We stayed at the Family House (Their version of Ronald McDonald House) across from the hospital. It was nice to be able to be so close, and go back to feed him at a moments notice. I have lots of milk stored up since he couldn't eat for a few days. Thursday morning Gino went into surgery. Although they said what happened to him was abnormal, the hernia was common routine procedure. The surgeon said it would be 1.5 -2 hours. As we wheeled him in, they did some prep work before he was off on his own. And sure enough on the wall next to him were all these stickers of Tinkerbell. Being a Children's hospital, there were characters everywhere. The chances of it being Tinkerbell were slim. But that has always been my favorite character, and is Giadas too. It made us feel like Giada was there with us and he would be okay. We really missed her, she had stayed with my parents all week, we had never been away from her for 4 nights! So they wheeled him off and we waited. We tried to distract ourselves talking to family, but once the 2 hour mark fell I was beyond anxious. I went in to check...he was still in OR, then you start thinking..."why is it taking so long, they must have found something else, etc etc" Finally the surgeon came out and all was well. He was so alert after surgery even to the surprise of the doctors...and STARVING, he hadn't eaten since midnight for fasting! He has a small incision that is already well healed and hasn't complained much at all. We would be headed home 24 hours later on Friday. We feel very blessed to have this all end so well despite the roller coaster it took to get us to the diagnosis. It is so wonderful to have our family home and not holding our baby with all these wires and cords attached. I think Gino was happy too. As we walked out of the Oakland Children's Hospital, literally a step outside the door he smiled his 1st smile. The nurse holding him said, " Oh he's happy he's smiling" Mike and I quickly looked back because he hadn't smiled yet...sure enough she was right! Thank you to all family/friends for the well wishes, and help with Giada while we were away.

Our little stinker.... Borax, Sixty One

Homecoming #2

Giada had some pool time with Nana while we were away!

When we got home to see Giada she said to Gino "I was waiting for you, you are so cute"

Catch Up Blog!

This was a crazy week(Ill explain in the next blog), but this is what I was going to post last week. (Sorry I got behind Nicole & Jacks! :)

Some more puctures from the McGarry wedding that I just got sent. Thanks Sam!

Mr & Mrs

Groom, Jarrid, Mike

Jarrid, Mike, Timmer

Jackie, Gino & I

Again here are pictures we were sent from Jon & Lisa's 25th Wedding Vow Renewal

Jon & Lisa

Us with Nonno

Matt & Steph got their wedding pics back....I don't know about you but this is one cute flower girl!

So...my mom's side of the family - MacLaggans - have a family outfit that my mom and her 7 siblings all came home from the hospital in. As our family has grown, then there was a photo of all of my cousins and I in the outfit, now all of our children. The outfit is delicate and gets sent around to whomever is next in the mail. My photos never turn out that great, especially with my helper wanting to move her brother all around. You'll even notice Giada had the gloves on and a MacLaggan bracelet!

Max loves all the kid toys!

Humm...what do you think this is below???? My garden has sucked this year. Lots of reasons, but I was trying to grow bell peppers again, last year was a bust. I had one on there that was finally getting big enough. I was going to leave it on for another day or two, and all of a sudden it was missing! I went around to the front to see what Giada was up to and she had picked it and torn it up!! She was happy to tell me what she had done!! I was so bummed, hope another one grows. She loves picking blueberries, tomatoes etc, but she usually isn't a garden destroyer!!There was cement being poured at the ranch so we put the kids footprints in there, Gino's are tiny!First bath....he's not convinced it's so great yet!Gymnastics is always a highlight of the week. This week we did some playing on the bars...And handstands, which she now says " I do it myself!"Giada and her buddy Coop enjoying a otter pop after class. Don't you love Coop's new haircut!

Annual Mud Volleyball Tournament

I only got pictures of 2 of our 3 teams this year. I couldn't play but this year but look forward to next year. One team took 4th place!

Matt was there this year with a team too, they had fun playing in the mud!

And she loved the lady bug she got painted on her face. What more could a kid want??? Face painting and mud.

Even Momo was there this year....and stole Gino right away!

Even the Olsens were there....Stace and her Mini Me!

Gino's first Giants Game! Although we didn't bring them good luck that night, it was a fun night out. Thanks Meyer.

Giada did some fishing while we were away!

He looks so peaceful when he is asleep.

Giadaisms this week....

Giada "Look 2 shells"

Me "Oh snail shells"

Giada " There empty not yucky touch it"

Me "Where do you think the snail went?"

Giada " To eat your plants"

Giada " Hi Gino Ray"

me "Whats your name? "

Giada " Jada Coldani"

me Whats your middle name "

Giada " Kayla" " Jada coldani kayla

me " Can you say Michela?"

Giada " I not Kayla I Jada"

We have to tell Gino everything ... "Tell Gino Im eating Pasta" Tell Gino Im going outside" ETC

"Go get that baby he's crying"

"Gino is tiny he cant' walk, maybe when he's 1, Im 2 and a half"

Wedding in Avila & Another Week Rolls By!

This past week went by very quickly. We are all adjusting well to life as a family of 4! Lots of visitors make the week go by quickly! I forget to take pictures with everyone but try to catch as many visitors as possible. Also, thanks again friends for bringing over delicious dinners....it's so nice to have one less thing to worry about!

One night my mom and Linds took Giada to the State Fair! She had a blast and was gone for hours. The house was SO quiet!! Taking care of a newborn is a a cinch.....versus a newborn and a crazy 2.5 yr old!! LOL! Thanks mom and Linds for taking her on a fun "adventure" she is still talking about it. Last night she told me, "your laugh was like the kookaburra" .....I'm pretty sure that's not a compliment. She also knows a lot of baby animal names and was so excited to see a real baby "Joey"

Nana is brave holding that bird!

It's been hot this week we have spent a lot at the water table playing. Giada loves dumping all the sand out into the water or the ground. So much for the new bag of sand we put in there! She also made this really funny face when I took her picture. I love it!

Sydney hadn't made the blog in awhile!

Gino got to meet Zia Gina this week!! We were glad to have her home, even if it was just a few days!

Matt and Steph got some Gino time too!

This weekend Mike and I headed to Avila to Jim and Michele McGarry's wedding. It was beautiful - Congrats you two and enjoy Italy! Jim was an AGR roommate of Mike's. He was in the wedding so we headed down Friday and made a weekend of it. It was great to visit with everyone, and have my Firestones fix of course! Gino was great, and slept most of the time. Giada had a fun weekend at nana and pops!

The Timmer was already teaching Gino tips on how to be a great football player...after all, as he has mentioned many times....he did play with Brady :)

I even got a visit in with Carrie and Sara!

It's still weird to me to have him in shorts and summer clothes since Giada was a winter baby.

Giada LOVES to give him kisses all day long. She will come in from playing in the mud and say " I won't touch him with the mud just kiss him"

He looks like such a little man with his wrinkly forehead!

Giada loved her butterfly wing gift when we got home from Avila and has been flying around ever since.

Oh you thought this pack n play was only for dolls??

Baby Update

- I forgot to mention something funny that happened when we were in the hospital. Our nurse didn't know that we even liked the Giants and she made a "Torture" reference during labor. She said you are like Giants, it's pure torture until you pull it out at the end. It made me laugh, I knew exactly what she meant as a Giants fan, so it was perfect and got my mind off things for a moment or two!

- Little man is eating tons and sleeping a lot ...during the day. We are working on nights. Giada was a terrible sleeper, so I figure he can't be any worse. But I'm trying a few new things this time (right Mandie!!?) So hopefully we will make some progress!

-His belly button fell off on the 28th. We are close to real baths soon!!

-Dr appt this week so hopefully he is growing well and his manhood is all healed up!!

Giada Update

- She is quite the story teller these days. Stories will jump all around from one topic to the next, and it always involves her cousin Drew!! They go on many adventures it seems!!

-She told us that at the fair "she caught a big fish and a little fish and they gave her a prize" Now she has added a stuffed dolphin to her animals she has to sleep with every night!

- She told Gino " You know me? I'm Jada Jada Coldani. I tell my sister a secret. When you are bigger I can pick you up!" It's cute she is always telling him things that he can do when he is older, and she calls him sister often!

-She always says "See you later crocodile alligator" Its so cute I can't correct her.